In Search for More than Just Coffee

Cassandra approached the small student cafe situated on the campus. They had the best coffee in Paris from as far as she could tell and she needed a break from the rigorous search for Jacques and his whiles. She had to find him, but everyone needed their rest. What she felt she wouldn't call love, but she would call it infatuation. She was infatuated with Jacques Mathieu and couldn't find him. Why he had left her that morning, turning it into a one night stand, was absurd. It wasn't a one night stand, it was much more than that. For that reason, she was in Paris. Jacques had told her about how some of his fondest memories came from there so she had to know.

"Thank you," she said curtly as she handed over her galleons to the clerk behind the counter and took her coffee. Swirling around the straw, she added a bit of sugar and a small dollop of cream, seating herself at a vacant table as she did so. She sniffed the heavy steam of the coffee. How much she loved the smell and how much even it alone could warm her. Propping a leg on a knee, Cassandra relaxed and started to sip, contemplating where she would look for Jacques next.

It felt like a million little two year olds were playing posts and pans inside of her head. Sure, it was nice to get out of the house and visit and have a mini reunion with her old classmates, but hang overs were killers. She needed coffee and she needed it quick! Today she was apartment hunting and she couldn't let her hangover get in the way of that.

The cute little cafe she heard about from people she met was located at the city's university. Since she was in the neighbourhood Armelle thought that she would check it out. She quickly walked up to the counter, clad in her favourite wide framed LV sunglasses to protect her sensitive eyes, and ordered a large Cafe Mocha. Armelle couldn't stand the taste of coffee all by its self.

After a few moments wait the steaming hot liquid in a cup was handed off to her in exchange for her money. A few sips so that it didn't spill and Armelle was ready to venture off to look for a seat. Unfortunately for her, some had her foot slightly stuck out and Armelle was unlucky enough to trip over it.

"Oh!" she cried as she tried to steady herself without spilling any of the hot liquid on the other woman. She wasn't so lucky as to not spill it on herself though. It wasn't very much though, there was still enough to drink. "I didn't spill anything on you did I? I'm so sorry if I did."

Gently sipping and thinking, Cassandra wasn't about to pay any mind to the young woman passing her until she suddenly tripped over Cassandra's own foot. Gasping, Cassandra tried to catch the young woman, about her age, but she had already steadied herself before having to worry about hitting the floor. Lucky for both of them, the coffee hadn't made too horrible a mess, just spilling onto the other woman.

"Oh! This is my fault, I'm so sorry." Cassandra's Australian accent was very prominent as she spoke. Quickly, she pulled out her wand and attempted to clean up the mess on the floor. Siphoning it back into the cup would have just been utterly disgusting, but Cassandra still felt bad for the girl.

"Please, join me. We'll get you cleaned up." Lightly waving her wand, Cassandra pushed the chair across the table from her out and gave a congenial hand wave to the vacant seat. The Australian girl herself, straightened up, pulling her legs under the chair. She was lucky she hadn't been the victim of an accidental spill for she was wearing a white blouse, wrapped tightly in a grey and red plaid jacket that buttoned once under her bosom. Her dark capri clad legs crossed under the chair as she adjusted one strapped sandal with the other foot.

"My name is Cassandra." The fact that she was trying to make friends with someone that had almost just spilled coffee on her might be strange to some, but Cassandra grew up on an island off the coast of the mainland. For that reason, she was a bit peculiar.

Armelle nodded in acknowledgement to the woman that she had tripped over. "It's okay, I'm alright." She tried to calm the girl, the woman seemed to have a very strong accent of sorts that made her French sound very odd.

Armelle took a seat where the woman had gestured. She seemed to be very nice for someone who had almost had hot coffee spilled on her. The red head took the napkin from the table and started to clean herself up. She would have to get Veronique to look at the burns later on that night. Having a healer as a roommate sure had its perks.

"Hi Cassandra, my name is Armelle. Sorry for almost ruining your outfit. These," she pointed to her sunglasses "help the headache but not so much with the seeing." She let out a chuckle, "Oh, do you mind if I ask you where you are from? You don't sound like French is your first language."

Even after all these years Armelle was still not good at controlling the words that came from her mouth. She was constantly being blunt and sometimes came off as rude. Who knew if Cassandra was sensitive about the way she spoke, but they would find out soon enough.

Not minding at all what some may have deemed rude, Cassandra flipped back her hair and smiled, laughing a small bit at the question the red head just asked her. She scooted her chair forward, placing her cup on the table rather than holding it in her lap for she had just seen what unbalanced coffee could do. Her foot bounced a little as she adjusted herself, jovially and quite cheerfully. It was strange how bright she seemed after having the past few weeks she had had.

"I'm Australian and quite proud of it. I've been in France for a while, but I'm in Paris now on a...treasure hunt of sorts." The phrasing had taken quite a bit to think of in Cassandra's opinion. She didn't want to say outright that she was hunting for a man that had thrilled her beyond all imagination and then vacated her life, but it was the truth. The diction she chose was probably the best way to phrase it unless Armelle wanted to know. Unless inquired of, she would not protrude into the privacy and comfort zones of others.

"France is lovely though. I assume you're a native?" Twisting words around was fun, but Cassandra was in no mood to manipulate this girl. She highly doubted that she knew Jacques Mathieu and his whereabouts. Magical France was a large place after all, and he could be anywhere. She could be in the wrong place too, he was only rumored to be in Paris.

"A treasure hunt?" Armelle question with a quirked eyebrow. She was intrigued; it was most likely that this woman she was talking was not referring to special gems hidden by pirates long ago. Armelle, being the nosy person she sometimes was, inquired, "What kind of treasure? Maybe the rarest gem of all, al good man?"

She winked at the girl; she was trying to make a joke of it. Who knew what Cassandra was looking for. "I'm on a treasure hunt of my own. I'm looking for an apartment here in Paris." The red head sighed. Living with Veronique was awesome and everything, but Armelle like her own space. A place where it was just her and she could walk around naked drinking martinis if she wanted to!

Armelle continued to listen to Cassandra talk. She was from Australia? How exotic! "Australia eh? Well that sounds awesome, why ever would you want to come to France to begin with?" Armelle tried to take of her sunglasses, figuring it was rude to keep them on now that the two were actually conversing, but found that the sunlight was way too much. "Yes, I was born and raised in France. Went to school at Beauxbatons, great place."

Armelle seemed to have tap directly into what Cassie was looking for at that moment. Every word that came out of her mouth was golden. Cassandra had doubted the validity of any reasoning behind the woman before her knowing Jacques, but she figured that she must know him now. They seemed about the same age and, by the words coming from Armelle, graduated from the same school. The witch didn't feel comfortable, however, sharing everything. Therefore, she slipped the wallet sized photo that rested in her hand under the table back into her purse as she snapped it tight and looked up at Armelle.

"You've hit the nail on the head," she said, being honest. "I do come looking for a man, but an apartment sounds just as intriguing and difficult a search." Still, with a sip of her drink, Cassandra glanced around, hoping she would find Jacques just wandering into the University. Alas, he was one to prefer private study and the use of his own magical techniques to perform his masonry work well. With a slight sigh, she resumed her demeanor of joviality.

"Mattie has been evading my grasp ever since I left his residence." Her foot started circling as she thought. "Perhaps the two of us could venture out on our treasure hunts together then?" Cassandra knew enough to realize that Jacques had just left Vichy not too long ago. He probably didn't have a place to live and they could potentially find him apartment searching just as Armelle was. Hopefully the French girl would forgive Cassandra for using her, she seemed quite nice and her intentions were not malevolent.

Armelle searched the vast space that was her memory looking for any boy she knew by the name of Mathew. Sadly though, no one jumped out at her. The former Terre really wished she could help Cassandra in some way; she seemed like an awesome person. But when the woman mention venturing off on their treasure hunt together, how could Armelle say no? Besides, Armelle was in need of new friends in this city.

"Well that sounds like an awesome idea, I saw an ad in the paper and I am off to go take a look." Armelle stood up from her seat, "Shall we?"

"Lets!" Cassandra too rose from her seat and sipped back the last amount of her beverage. With that finished, she set it down on the table to watch it magically disappear. Magic was so wonderful, but it often made Cassandra wonder why she didn't gain weight faster. Bending over, Cassie picked up her bag and flung it over her shoulder.

Cassandra was feeling rather forward about making friends here, so she grabbed Armelle by the arm and smiled, leading the way away from the university and to the world beyond where hopefully both their targets resided.